Latest from Iraqi News
Iraqi News
4 hours ago
- Science
- Iraqi News
SpaceX Starship explodes on Texas launch pad
Houston – A SpaceX Starship rocket exploded during a routine ground test in Texas late Wednesday, the company said, in the latest setback to billionaire Elon Musk's dream of sending humans to Mars. The explosion — which sent a towering fireball into the air — happened at the Starbase launch facility at about 11:00 pm (0400 GMT Thursday), SpaceX and law enforcement officials said. As the company prepared for a static fire test, 'a sudden energetic event resulted in the complete loss of Starship and damage to the immediate area surrounding the stand,' it said Thursday, updating its initial statement. 'The explosion ignited several fires at the test site which remains clear of personnel,' it said. 'As is the case before any test, a safety zone was established around the test site and was maintained throughout the operation. There are no reported injuries, and all personnel are safe and accounted for.' During a static fire test, part of the procedures preceding a launch, the Starship's first-stage Super Heavy booster would be anchored to the ground to prevent it from lifting off during the test-firing. Starbase, on the south Texas coast near the border with Mexico, is the headquarters for Musk's space project. The company was preparing for the 10th test flight of Starship. 'Initial analysis indicates the potential failure of a pressurized tank known as a COPV, or composite overwrapped pressure vessel, containing gaseous nitrogen in Starship's nosecone area, but the full data review is ongoing,' SpaceX said. Musk appeared to downplay the incident on Thursday. 'Just a scratch,' he posted on his social media platform X. – Mega-rocket – Standing 403 feet (123 meters) tall, Starship is the world's largest and most powerful rocket and is central to Musk's long-term vision of building a long-term colony on Mars. The Starship is billed as a fully reusable rocket with a payload capacity of up to 150 metric tons. The latest setback follows the explosion of a prototype Starship over the Indian Ocean in late May. That day, the biggest and most powerful launch vehicle ever built had lifted off from the Starbase facility, but the Super Heavy booster blew up instead of executing its planned splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico. The previous two outings also ended poorly, with the upper stage disintegrating over the Caribbean. However, the failures will likely do little to dent Musk's spacefaring ambitions. SpaceX has been betting that its 'fail fast, learn fast' ethos, which has helped it dominate commercial spaceflight, will eventually pay off. The company has caught the Super Heavy booster in the launch tower's giant robotic arms three times — a daring engineering feat it sees as key to rapid reusability and slashing costs. NASA is also increasingly reliant on SpaceX, whose Dragon spacecraft is vital for ferrying astronauts to and from the International Space Station. SpaceX said Thursday that there are 'no commonalities' between the COPVs used on Starship — the current focus on the investigation — and those used on Falcon. The Federal Aviation Administration approved an increase in annual Starship rocket launches from five to 25 in early May, stating that the increased frequency would not adversely affect the environment. The decision overruled objections from conservation groups that had warned the expansion could endanger sea turtles and shorebirds.
Iraqi News
4 hours ago
- General
- Iraqi News
Peru gas workers find thousand-year-old mummy
Lima – Peruvian gas workers this week found a thousand-year-old mummy while installing pipes in Lima, their company said, confirming the latest discovery of a pre-Hispanic tomb in the capital. The workers found the trunk of a huarango tree (a species native to coastal Peru), 'which served as a tomb marker in the past,' at a depth of 50 centimeters (20 inches), archaeologist Jesus Bahamonde, scientific coordinator of Calidda gas company, told reporters. The mummy of a boy aged between 10 and 15, was found at a depth of 1.2 meters, he added. 'The burial and the objects correspond to a style that developed between 1000 and 1200,' he said. The remains discovered on Monday were found 'in a sitting position, with the arms and legs bent,' according to Bahamonde. They were found in a shroud which also contained calabash gourds. Ceramic objects, including plates, bottles and jugs decorated with geometric figures and figures of fishermen, were found next to the mummy. The tomb and artifacts belong to the pre-Inca Chancay culture, which lived in the Lima area between the 11th and 15th centuries. They were discovered while gas workers were removing earth from an avenue in the Puente Piedra district of northern Lima. In Peru, utility companies must hire archaeologists when drilling the earth, because of the possibility of hitting upon heritage sites. Calidda has made more than 2,200 archaeological finds since 2004. Lima is home to over 500 archaeological sites, including dozens of 'huacas' as ancient cemeteries are known in the Indigenous Quechua language.
Iraqi News
4 hours ago
- Politics
- Iraqi News
Can NATO keep Trump on-message about Russia threat?
Brussels – When leaders from NATO's 32 countries gather for a summit in The Hague next week, most want to send a clear message: Russia is the main threat to their alliance. But the loudest voice in the room likely won't be on the same page. Since coming back to office, US President Donald Trump has upended the West's approach towards Russia's war on Ukraine by undercutting Kyiv and opening the door to closer ties with Moscow. While the volatile leader has expressed some frustration with Russia's Vladimir Putin for refusing a ceasefire, he has steered clear of punishing the Kremlin. At a G7 summit this week Trump made waves by saying the group of industrialised countries should never have expelled Russia. Ahead of the Hague gathering, diplomats at NATO have been wrangling over a five-paragraph summit statement, with many countries pressing for a full-throated assertion of the menace from Moscow. That, they say, will help explain the main thrust of the meeting: an agreement for countries to ramp up defence spending to satisfy Trump's demand for it to reach five percent of GDP. – Statement on Russia 'threat' – Since the Kremlin launched its 2022 invasion of Ukraine, the alliance has called Russia 'the most significant and direct threat to allies' security and to peace and stability in the Euro-Atlantic area'. But this time around the United States — backed up by Moscow-friendly Hungary and Slovakia — has been intent on watering that down. Diplomats have been juggling with variants such as referring to 'threats, including Russia' or mentioning 'the long-term threat posed by Russia to Euro-Atlantic security'. The verbal nuances may seem slight, but they mean a lot to those countries being asked to massively ramp up spending and those on NATO's eastern flank most threatened by the Kremlin. NATO has warned that Russia could be ready to attack an alliance country within five years. 'If we can get Trump to sign off on calling Russia a long-term threat then that would be a good result,' a senior European diplomat told AFP. – 'Near threat' – As US peace efforts between Russia and Ukraine have stalled, the diplomat said that Washington appeared to have 'moved a centimetre in our direction' on taking a stronger stance on Russia. 'Of course more hawkish countries want to go further — but just getting Trump to agree that would still be fine,' the diplomat said. Part of the US reasoning is that Washington is more worried about the threat China poses worldwide — and that Russia is more a problem just in Europe. 'Russia is the near threat,' said US ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker. 'But China is obviously a big challenge for all of us, and we need to be allied and address those threats as well.' Camille Grand of the European Council on Foreign Relations said that beneath the diplomatic fine-tuning, NATO was being confronted by a 'fundamental question'. 'How does the United States view Russia?' he said. 'So far we haven't really got an answer.' Even if NATO does opt for stronger wording on Moscow, there is always the possibility that Trump could show up in The Hague and directly contradict it. But the debate could come into sharper focus in the months after the summit when the United States could announce a pull-back of forces in Europe as part of a review of its global deployments. – Division on Ukraine – One area where Washington appears clearly not on board with most other allies is on backing Ukraine. Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky is set to attend on the sidelines of the summit but his involvement is being kept to a minimum to avoid a bust-up with Trump. Diplomats said there should be a reference in the summit statement linking new defence spending to helping Ukraine — but there will be no talk of Kyiv's long-term push to join NATO. 'The US does not see Ukrainian security as essential to European security,' said Kurt Volker, a former US ambassador to NATO. 'Our European allies do, so they feel that if Putin is allowed to prevail in Ukraine, or if Ukraine does not survive as a sovereign, independent state, they are at risk.'
Iraqi News
4 hours ago
- Sport
- Iraqi News
Pacers thrash Thunder to stay alive in NBA Finals
Los Angeles – The Indiana Pacers, rallying around injured star Tyrese Haliburton, crushed the Oklahoma City Thunder 108-91 on Thursday to force a decisive game seven in the NBA Finals. Haliburton, cleared to play with a right calf injury only a couple of hours before tipoff, scored 14 points with five assists and two steals in a solid contribution to a comprehensive team effort. 'We just wanted to protect home court,' Haliburton said. 'We didn't want to see these guys celebrate a championship on our home floor. 'Backs against the wall, we just responded,' he added. 'So many different guys chipped in, total team effort. I'm really proud of this group.' Obi Toppin led the Pacers scoring with 20 points off the bench as Indiana's reserves out-scored Oklahoma City's bench 48-37. Andrew Nembhard added 17 points and Pascal Siakam had 16 points and 13 rebounds as the Pacers, who had lost the last two games to stand on the brink of elimination, leveled the best-of-seven championship series at three games apiece. Haliburton, who said he'd do everything he could to play after limping through most of game five, showed virtually no sign of his injury as the Pacers grabbed the game by the throat in the second quarter and never let go. Indiana led by 22 points at halftime and by as many as 31 early in the fourth quarter. NBA Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led Oklahoma City with 21 points but had eight of the Thunder's 21 turnovers. Gilgeous-Alexander missed his lone three-point attempt while Jalen Williams — coming off a 40-point performance in game five — missed all four of his three-point attempts on the way to 16 points. The Thunder, winners of a league-best 68 regular-season games — pulled their starters after falling behind by 30 going into the fourth quarter. They'll be searching for answers as the series heads back to Oklahoma City for game seven on Sunday — the first game seven in the championship series since 2016. The Thunder are seeking their first title since the franchise relocated to Oklahoma City in 2008, having won it all in 1979 as the Seattle SuperSonics. The Pacers are in search of a first NBA title. They won American Basketball Association titles in 1970, 1972 and 1973 before joining the NBA as part of the ABA-NBA merger in 1976. – One game – 'You know, we've got one game,' Haliburton said. 'All cards on the table. It's going to be a lot of fun.' For a few minutes, it looked like the Thunder might roll to the title. The Pacers missed their first eight shots and fell into a quick eight-point hole. But they settled in to connect on six straight attempts and took the lead on a three-pointer from Nembhard midway through the first quarter. Indiana piled on the pressure with a pair of three-pointers and a trey from Haliburton — his first basket of the night — pushing their lead to as many as nine points. Up by three at the end of the first, the Pacers exploded in the second quarter, stepping up the aggression on both ends of the floor on the way to a 64-42 halftime lead. With less than a minute to go in the first half Haliburton came up with a steal then found Siakam with a no-look pass for an emphatic dunk. Siakam followed up with a turnaround jump shot at the halftime buzzer. 'It's the Finals,' Haliburton said. 'All of us got to give everything we have.'
Iraqi News
4 hours ago
- Politics
- Iraqi News
Trump to make Iran war decision in next two weeks
Washington – US President Donald Trump said Thursday he will decide whether to join Israel's strikes on Iran within the next two weeks as there is still a 'substantial' chance of negotiations to end the conflict. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt read out a message from Trump, saying there had been 'a lot of speculation' about whether the United States would be 'directly involved' in the conflict. 'Based on the fact that there's a substantial chance of negotiations that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future, I will make my decision whether or not to go within the next two weeks,' Trump said in the statement. The announcement could lower the temperature and give space for diplomacy, after a fevered few days in which Trump said Iran's leader was an 'easy target' and vowed that Tehran could never have a nuclear weapon. But Leavitt also told reporters that Iran could produce a nuclear weapon in the space of a 'couple of weeks.' 'Iran has all that it needs to achieve a nuclear weapon. All they need is a decision from the supreme leader to do that, and it would take a couple of weeks to complete the production of that weapon,' she said. Trump said on Wednesday that Iran had asked to send officials to the White House to negotiate a deal on its nuclear program and end the conflict with Israel. Iran denied it would do so. Leavitt would not give details of what had led Trump to believe that negotiations with Iran were possible, but denied he was putting off a decision. 'If there's a chance for diplomacy the president's always going to grab it, but he's not afraid to use strength as well,' Leavitt said. The spokeswoman said 'correspondence has continued' between Washington and Tehran when asked about reports that Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff had been in touch with Iran's foreign minister. – 'Trust in President Trump' – Trump held his third meeting in three days in the White House's highly secured Situation Room on Thursday as he continued to mull whether to join Israel's bombing campaign. The US president had said on Wednesday that 'I may do it, I may not do it' when asked if he would take military action against Iran. Trump had spent weeks pursuing a diplomatic path towards a deal to replace the nuclear deal with Iran that he tore up in his first term in 2018. But he has since backed Israel's attacks on Iran's nuclear facilities and military top brass, while mulling whether to join in. A key issue is that the United States is the only country with the huge 'bunker buster' bombs that could destroy Iran's crucial Fordo Iranian nuclear enrichment plant. The White House meanwhile urged Trump supporters to 'trust' the president as he decides whether to act. A number of key figures in his 'Make America Great Again' movement, including commentator Tucker Carlson and former aide Steve Bannon, have vocally opposed US strikes on Iran. Trump's promise to extract the United States from its 'forever wars' in the Middle East played a role in his 2016 and 2024 election wins. 'Trust in President Trump. President Trump has incredible instincts,' Leavitt said.
